On an ocean liner approaching New York, a man tries unsuccessfully to steal a small package
hidden in a woman's stateroom. The woman, fearing that there will be another attempt to steal the package, hides the
package in the baggage of Charlie Chan and his son Lee who are staying in the stateroom next to hers.

In New York,
newspaper reporter Speed Patten slips into a cab with the woman, whom he knows as Billie Bronson, who, one year ago, had disappeared
from New York. She promises to meet him at her hotel at midnight if he will keep quiet about her return to New York.
As Speed reports the potential story to his editor, Murdock, the latter receives a phone call from Bronson who demands twice
the amount that the editor had been willing to pay a year ago for important information that she had. He agrees to meet
with her that night at 10:30.

Billie bribes a bellhop for a key to Chan's room. As she it attempting to enter,
she is spotted by Lee. Claiming that she had mistaken Charlie and Lee Chan's room for her own, a suspicious Lee later
follows her to the Hottentot Club, owned by racketeer Johnny Burke.

At the club, mobster Buzz Moran warns Billie to
get out of town before morning, after which she goes to Burke's office. Meanwhile, Speed, who has come to the club with
photographer Joan Wendall, follows Burke to meet Billie. Billie accuses Burke, her former lover, of giving her the runaround
because of his involvement with Marie Collins, a dancer at the Hottentot Club, and pulls a gun on him as Marie opens the door.

Later, during a police banquet that is being given in honor of Charlie Chan, Inspector Nelson gets word that Billie
Bronson has been murdered at the Hottentot Club and that Lee Chan is being held as a suspect. Excusing himself, Chan
hurries to the club with Inspector Nelson.

After arriving at the club and assessing the situation, Nelson orders Lee's
release and questions Speed, Burke, Marie, and Joan. In Burke's office, where the murder occurred, Chan notices that
a napkin has been placed over a tray is not present in a photograph that Joan Wendall had taken moments after the murder.
Suddenly, Louie, Burke's "associate," turns out the lights. During the ensuing scuffle and resulting confusion, Burke
escapes. When the lights are turned back on, Chan notes that a key that was plainly visible in Wendall's photograph
is missing. Using a magnifying glass to examine the photographic image more closely, Chan discovers that the missing key belongs
to his hotel room.

Quickly, Chan, Lee, and Nelson go to Chan's hotel room, where they have trouble opening the door,
which is blocked by the body of a murdered man. The dead man is the same person who had tried to steal the package from
Billie Bronson on the boat. Marie Collins then enters the room and is shocked to see the body of her estranged husband
Thomas Mitchell. On the floor, Chan finds a crumpled page from a diary, which, he realizes, Mitchell was after.

Suddenly
Lee remembers something. He tells Chan that Bronson had earlier told him that her room was directly above theirs on the next
floor. Upon hearing this, Chan and Nelson hurry upstairs to Billie's room where they find Murdock. Murdock explains
that he was there to buy Bronson's diary which, he says, contains incriminating information regarding individuals involved
in corruption and racketeering in New York City.

The next day, with the city's newspapers ablaze with the news of
the murders the night before, Burke is confronted by Buzz Moran. Burke knocks Moran to the floor. As Burke runs
from the room, Moran fires a shot at him, but misses. Deciding to turn himself in, Burke, accompanied by his lawyer, Meeker,
goes to police headquarters. There, he is given a paraffin test whether there are any traces of gunpowder on his hands.
The test proves to be negative, and Burke is released. Chan reminds Nelson that the missing napkin may have been
used to cover the gun, warning Burke that he is still under investigation.

Burke, returning to his office and finding
Lee there trying to reconstruct the murder with Ling Tse, an employee of the Hottentot Club, punches Lee, giving him a black
eye. Lee hits him back, before being thrown out of the club. Fearing that Charlie Chan has sent his son Lee to
snoop around his office, Burke decides to leave town, but is caught at the airport along with Marie. He is taken back
to his office where Murdock and Moran are also brought.

CONCLUSION:

Chan,
Lee, Speed, Joan, and Nelson also arrive at Burke's office above the Hottentot Club, where Chan reveals that Mitchell was
trying to get Billie Bronson's diary and use information contained within its pages to ruin Burke who had stolen his wife.
Telling Murdock that the police have been monitoring his mail and that they know he has received a special delivery letter,
Nelson forces the editor to hand it over. When the envelope is opened, a page of the missing diary is found inside stating
that Speed Patten had used his newspaper job as a cover for blackmailing. Outraged, Speed states that the page is an
obvious phony. At this point, Chan accuses him of murder, explaining that only the person who had the actual diary -
the murderer - could tell that the page in the envelope was a forgery. Chan then relates that he had first suspected
Patten when his newspaper account of the Bronson murder had noted that Billie was shot in the back, a fact that had only been
known by the police and the murderer. The detective then reveals that he and Inspector Nelson had sent the phony diary
page to Murdock in order to draw Speed out.

Speed Patten pulls out a gun and confesses that he killed Billie Bronson
because she was going to go to the district attorney with the diary, which implicated him. He then found Mitchell with the
diary and killed him. As Patten is about to shoot Chan, Lee jumps him, and in the struggle, Speed is disarmed and captured.

Later, while Chan, Lee, and Inspector Nelson are riding in a car together through the streets of New York, Nelson
invites the father and son to be his guests and see the city. As an enthusiastic Lee takes off his sunglasses, revealing
that he now has two black eyes, Charlie Chan says, "Evidently, Broadway very hard on eyes."

NOTE: Thomas Beck is listed as a cast member
in early Hollywood Reporter cast charts, but his participation in the final film is doubtful.

Adapted from: AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE CATALOG - Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American
Feature Films, 1911-1960

CHARLIE CHAN'S APHORISMS:

Keep eyes open and mouth shut.

Etiquette ignored when lady in distress.

Police in New York and Honolulu have one thing in common - both live on very small island.

Position of body sometime give solution of murder.

Camera remember many things human
eye forget.

No poison more deadly than ink.

Murder case like revolving door - when one side close, other side
open.

Snooping very dangerous business.

Triangle very ancient motive for murder.

To know forgery, one must have original.

OTHER WORTHY STATEMENTS:

(Lee: "Gee, Pop, you sure missed a
great luncheon!") Contradiction, please. Not having eaten, have missed nothing.

(Lee:
"I had turtle soup, Chicken a la King, and three cream puffs. Then I had some ice cream...") Mention of
food more painful than surgeon's knife without anesthetic.

(Lee: "Shall I get you some medicine,
Pop?") Good dose of land is only effective medicine.

(Lee: "The bulletin
board says we'll dock at four o'clock this afternoon.') Only sight of dock can renew interest in life.

Am unworthy of so great honor.
Will feel like sparrow perched on limb with peacocks. (To Inspector Nelson at the prospect
of attending a police banquet in his honor)

New York English too baffling for humble detective. (To Inspector Nelson)

Please keep eyes open and mouth shut. (To
Lee)

One room still too small for two detectives. (To
Lee)

New York like mouth of great river. Many reefs in channel to wreck small sightseeing boat from
Honolulu. (To Lee before handing him a $20 bill)

Save breath for lamentations.(To Lee, after the $20 bill is
promptly stolen by a pickpocket)

Police of New York and Honolulu have one thing in common - both live on
small island. But, while we have big volcano, you have biggest "shake-up." (To the assembled
New York police officers at the banquet honoring Chan)

(Inspector Nelson: "Well, thanks
to you, Charlie, there's the baby that's going to sweep Broadway cleaner than it's been since the Indians sold it!")
Most happy to have placed new broom into hands of Father Knickerbocker.

"Police in New York and Honolulu have one thing in common - both live on very small island.
But, while we have big volcano, you have biggest 'shake-up.' Someday hope to greet honorable brothers in Hawaii, where
roar of surf replace noise of subway, and hot rhythm of Broadway cooled by strains of 'Aloha.'"

REVIEW:

Variety, September 22, 1937

Newest entry into the Charlie Chan Chinese sleuth series fits alongside of the better ones.
It holds more than usual for the metropolitan audiences because of having a New York locale and concerned with graft
in the big town. Film provides an opportunity for the Oriental Sherlock to perform his deductions while a guest of the
N.Y. police force. Good for locations where others in this series played.

Running through the clever detective
manipulations of Charlie Chan are bright situations, subtle and roughshod comedy, and pointed action. Chan uncovers
the least suspected scandal column writer as the killer of two people mixed up in the big city's mob. Writers have permitted
several in the cast to be placed under the cloud of suspicion without closing all doors to the entrance of other suspects.

Producers have wisely kept Chan's son in the series, making him a foil for his father's shrewd nifties. But
at the end, it is the aspiring offspring who is equal to the emergency and thwarts a third murder.

Some of the plausible
deductions, such as tracing the killer suspect through his antedated knowledge shown in his gossip column, lend more credulity
than usual to this typical yarn. A field day for candid camera bugs in a night club also has been made use of to forward
the plot.

Art Arthur, Robert Ellis and Helen Logan have combined forces on the original story with Charles Belden
and Jerry Cady doing a bang-up job in transferring it to the screen. The swiftly paced dialog in the modern manner is
also a credit to the latter pair.

Chan is again faithfully personified by Warner Oland, with just as much interest
as ever being shown to his clever portrayal. Keye Luke again is the effervescent son, with the lad even better than
before if only because he does more things in his usual enthusiastic style. Joan Marsh makes a pert candid-camera, freelancer
among the dailies, though the slight love interest she shows for the columnist is blotted out at the close. Harold Huber's
conception of a police inspector is crisp and characteristic if a little too brusque, Donald Woods as the scandal scribbler
is energetic if nothing else. Too blatant for true-to-life portrayal, and he often mixes a stilted English accent with
his slang.

A long list of supporting characters is topped by J. Edward Bromberg, as the tabloid managing editor; Leon
Ames, as the gangster chief; Louise Henry, as a mob moll who is bumped off early; Joan Woodbury, as a nightclub dancer, and
Douglas Fowley, as night club operator and gangster assistant. The Woodbury girl shows possibilities because having
a combo of looks and acting ability.

Production values are plenty in evidence, with even the nitery entertainment
having some semblance of naturalness. Eugene Ford has directed with intelligence, and never lets up on the early fast
tempo.

FILM NOTES:

LOCATIONS: Aboard ship,
approaching New York City and New York City

PROBABLE DATE: Late August-early
September 1936 (Charlie Chan and son Lee are probably returning home following the Olympic Games in Berlin ["Charlie Chan
at the Olympics"] and a trip together through several locations in Europe.)

DURATION: Two days

FOODS EATEN BY LEE CHAN AT LUNCHEON AS NOTED TO HIS SEASICK
POP: "I had turtle soup, Chicken a la King, and three cream puffs. Then I had some ice cream..."

SCHEDULED DOCKING TIME FOR THE SHIP, ACCORDING TO LEE:
"...four o'clock this afternoon."

ASPIRIN SEEN ON THE TABLE IN BILLIE BRONSON'S STATEROOM:
"Bayer Tablets Aspirin"

THE NAME OF THE SEASICK MEDICINE USED BY CHARLIE CHAN:
Mother Nature's Seasick Remedy

THE NEXT INTENDED DESTINATION, AFTER NEW YORK, OF CHARLIE
CHAN AND SON LEE ON THEIR WAY BACK HOME TO HONOLULU, ACCORDING TO LEE: "We leave for San Francisco in the morning."

ACCORDING TO THE SIGN ABOVE THE PIER GATE OUTSIDE OF THE
SHIP TERMINAL, THE PIER WHERE CHARLIE CHAN'S SHIP DOCKED: Pier 178-180

THE NAME OF THE POLICE OFFICER ASKED BY INSPECTOR NELSON
FOR AN APPROPRIATE SONG FOR THE BAND TO PLAY IN HONOR OF CHARLIE CHAN: Smitty

SMITTY'S RANK: Sergeant

THE NAME OF THE SONG SUGGESTED BY SMITTY: "Chinatown,
My Chinatown"

THE POSTED RULE AT THE DOCKS BLATANTLY IGNORED BY INSPECTOR
NELSON: "No Smoking"

THE NAME OF THE LINE THAT OPERATED THE SHIP USED BY CHARLIE
CHAN: Green Star Line

QUESTIONS ASKED BY REPORTERS OF THE MAHARAJA, AND HIS RESPONSES, AT THE DOCK:

First Reporter: "Is it true that you intend racing Indian King in Saratoga?"

(no response)

First Reporter: "How do your horses always win the races?"

Maharaja: "They run faster."

Second Reporter: "How many wives have you?"

Maharaja: "More than Ali Baba had thieves."

Second Reporter: "Do you think you're going to like New York?"

Maharaja: "If it's one-half as ridiculous as I've heard, I should."

Second Reporter: "How long do you expect to remain in the United States?"

Maharaja: "Well, I don't know."

First Reporter: "Did you bring all of your stable with you?"

(no response)

ACCORDING TO REPORTER SPEED PATTON, THE NEWSPAPER FOR WHICH
HE WORKED: "...the Bulletin." (New York Daily Bulletin)

ACCORDING TO INSPECTOR NELSON, WHEN BILLIE BRONSON LEFT NEW
YORK FOR EUROPE: "A year ago..."

CHARLIE CHAN AND SON LEE'S HOTEL: Carlton Hotel

THE NAME OF THE CAB COMPANY ON THE TAXICAB USED BY BILLIE
BRONSON (AND SPEED PATTON): Sunshine

ACCORDING TO SPEED PATTON, THE NAME OF THE INDIAN MAHARAJA
WHO WAS INTERVIEWED AT THE DOCK: "...the Maharaja of Radfa..."

ACCORDING TO SPEED PATTON, THE STORY THAT HE WAS WORKING
ON: "I got a swell human interest yarn on the Maharaja of Radfa today." (for the Sunday edition)

THE FEE DEMANDED OF MURDOCK BY JOAN WENDELL FOR HER EXCLUSIVE
PHOTOGRAPH OF BILLIE BRONSON: "A hundred bucks."

THE OFFER MADE BY MURDOCK FOR THIS PHOTO: "I'll give
you fifty dollars."

THE RIVAL NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER THAT JOAN WENDELL SUGGESTED WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HER
PICTURE: "...the Times."

THE AMOUNT PAID FOR THE PHOTO: $100

ACCORDING TO BILLIE BRONSON, THE LAST TIME SHE AND MURDOCK HAD DISCUSSED A "LITTLE DEAL": "...about a year ago..."

BILLIE BRONSON'S DEMAND REGARDING THE COST NOW FOR THE 'BULLETIN' TO PURCHASE HER DIARY: "...it's going to cost you twice what you offered last time."

THE TIME, ACCORDING TO MURDOCK, OF BILLIE BRONSON'S
SCHEDULED MEETING WITH HIM AT HER HOTEL: "...11:30 tonight."

THE NAME OF THE NIGHTCLUB OWNED BY JOHNNY BURKE: Hottentot
Club

CHARLIE CHAN'S ROOM NUMBER AT THE CARLTON HOTEL: 313

CLOTHING ITEM "BORROWED" BY LEE FROM HIS POP: A collar
button

THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT LEE HAD ON HIM TO "SEE THE TOWN":
"...one buck..."

THE AMOUNT OF THE ALLOWANCE ADVANCED BY CHARLIE CHAN TO SON
LEE: $20

THE NAME OF THE HOTEL REQUESTED OF THE TAXI DRIVER BY CHARLIE
CHAN 9WHERE THE POLICE BANQUET IN HIS HONOR WAS TO BE HELD): Astor Hotel

THE COMPANY NAME OF THE TAXICAB USED BY CHARLIE CHAN:
Sunshine

BILLIE BRONSON'S ROOM NUMBER AT THE CARLTON HOTEL:
413

THE TAXICAB COMPANY OF THE CAB USED BY LEE TO REACH THE HOTTENTOT
CLUB: Sunshine

THE SIGN OUTSIDE OF THE HOTTENTOT CLUB:

THE ITEMS SOLD BY PHOTO GIRL LING TZE AT THE HOTTENTOT
CLUB, AS STATED BY HER: "Flashlights, bulbs, film."

THE PRICE OF A "FLASHLIGHT" AT THE HOTTENTOT CLUB:
50 cents

THE NAME OF THE HAT CHECK GIRL AT THE HOTTENTOT
CLUB: Gloria

THE HOTTENTOT CLUB'S "RULES OF THE HOUSE" AS EXPLAINED
TO LEE BY THE DOORMAN: "...no gentlemen allowed in without a lady friend."

BUZZ MORAN'S DRINK OF CHOICE: Milk

ACCORDING TO THE CORONER, THE CAUSE OF BILLIE
BRONSON'S DEATH: "The bullet entered the back just below the left shoulder blade, passed through the right ventricle,
and was probably stopped by a bone."

THE APPROXIMATE LENGTH OF TIME, ACCORDING TO THE
CORONER, SINCE BILLIE BRONSON HAD BEEN KILLED: "About half an hour ago."

ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER, THE
TYPE OF GUN THAT HAD BEEN USED TO KILL BILLIE BRONSON: "...a .25 caliber automatic..."

THE ITEMS THAT WERE MOVED IN JOHNNY BURKE'S OFFICE,
ACCORDING TO JOAN WENDALL'S PHOTOGRAPH: The telephone receiver was placed back on the phone, a handkerchief was missing,
a key was missing from the contents that were spilled from Billie Bronson's purse on the floor.

THE NAME OF THE NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER TOLD BY
INSPECTOR NELSON TO TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON IN JOHNNY BURKE'S OFFICE DURING THE SCUFFLE: Mack

ACCORDING TO INSPECTOR NELSON, THE CONDITION OF
THOMAS MITCHELL'S BODY, WHICH WAS FOUND IN CHARLIE CHAN'S ROOM: "Stabbed through the ribs, and not over a couple of
minutes ago, either."

THE PARTIAL TEXT OF THE CRUMPLED PAGE FROM BILLIE BRONSON'S DIARY
THAT WAS FOUND IN CHARLIE CHAN'S ROOM:

ACCORDING TO INSPECTOR NELSON, THE LENGTH OF TIME
SINCE BILLIE BRONSON WAS KILLED: "...an hour ago..."

THE TIME, ACCORDING TO MURDOCK: "It's now...twenty
minutes of eleven."

FROM THE ABOVE INFORMATION, THE APPROXIMATE TIME
OF BILLIE BRONSON'S MURDER: 9:40 p.m.

Billie Bronson: "Well, you look like you're
all dressed up to do the town tonight."

ducky
- (Slang) Fine; excellent.

Inspector Nelson: "Well that's just ducky!"

Father Knickerbocker
- Father Knickerbocker became a symbol for New York City in the early 1800s following the publication of Washington Irving's
satirical "History of New York," which Irving attributed to "Diedrich Knickerbocker." A round, 17th century Dutch character,
Father Knickerbocker reminded New Yorkers of their Colonial past. Wearing knickers, buckled shoes, and a white beard,
Father Knickerbocker has been illustrated and depicted in many ways, often symbolizing changes in the city's politics. The
image of Father Knickerbocker, a reminder of old New York, was prevalent until the 1950s when the modern city had securely
taken hold. The name survives today, in abbreviated form, in the name of the New York Knicks basketball team.

Charlie Chan: "Most happy to have placed
new broom in hands of Father Knickerbocker."

Inspector Nelson: "I knew there was something
fresh around here, I thought it was the ocean air."

Grant's Tomb - Officially designated as the General Grant National Memorial, Grant's Tomb stands as a tribute to Ulysses
S. Grant, the principal author of Union victory during the Civil War and 18th president of the United States. Located
in Riverside Park in Manhattan, this granite and marble monument is the final resting place of President Grant and his wife,
Julia Dent Grant. It is also the second largest mausoleum in the Western Hemisphere.

Billie Bronson: "I want to see Grant's
Tomb."

heat- (Slang)(1) An intensification of police
activity in pursuing criminals. (2) The police. (Used with the.)

Johnny Burke: "We'll lay low 'til the
heat's off."

honey
- (Informal) Something remarably fine.

Joan Wendell: "...it's a honey."

hot -
(Slang) Wanted by the police.

Billie Bronson: "I'm not hot
anymore, and you know it!"

Hottentot- (1) A Khoikhoin.(2) Any of the Khoisan
languages spoken by the pastoral people of Namibia and South Africa.

Billie Bronson: "The
Hottentot Club."

hush money
- (Slang) A bribe paid to keep something secret.

Joan Wendell: "We'll blow some of this
hush money..."

in a jam
- (Slang) In a difficult, threatening, or embarrassing position; also, unable to
solve a dilemma.

Johnny Burke: "Yeah, yeah, I'm in
a jam."

job
- (Informal) A criminal act, especially a robbery.

Buzz Moran: "Everybody but the cops knows
he pulled the job."

joint -
(Slang)(1) A cheap or disreputable gathering
place.

(2)
A building or dwelling.

Joan Wendell: "Hey, what's the idea?
I can't get out of this joint?"

kowtow-
(From Chinese)(1) To kneel and touch the forehead
to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in China. (2)
To show servile deference.

Billie Bronson's supposed diary text,
as read by Inspector Nelson: "It was sure funny to see everybody kowtow to Johnny and Buzz."

Inspector Nelson: "Get out of here, Burke, and take that
shyster with you!"

slumming- (Slang)
to "go out on the town."

Joan Wendell: "No, just slumming."

sulphuric acid - A
heavy, corrosive, oily liquid, colorless when pure, but usually yellowish or brownish, produced by the combined action of
sulphur dioxide, oxygen (from the air), steam, and nitric fumes. It attacks and dissolves many metals and other intractable
substances, sets free most acids from their salts, and is used in the manufacture of hydrochloric and nitric acids, of soda,
of bleaching powders, etc. It is also powerful dehydrating agent, having a strong affinity for water, and eating and
corroding paper, wood, clothing, etc. It is thus used in the manufacture of ether, of imitation parchment, and of nitroglycerin.
It is also used in etching iron, in removing iron scale from forgings, in petroleum refining, etc., and in general its manufacture
is the most important and fundamental of all the chemical industries.